World Cup Stats

Oldest World Cup player
The Oldest World Cup player to have played in a World Cup tournament is Roger Milla of Cameroon. He played against Russia in 1994 and was 42 years and 39 days old.

Youngest World Cup player
The youngest World Cup player to have played in a World Cup tournament is Norman Whiteside of Northern Ireland. He played against Yugoslavia in 1982 at the ripe age of 17 years and 41 days old.

Shortest World Cup career
The shortest career in terms of minutes played on field in the history of the World Cup is shared by Tunisia's Khemais Labidi and Argentina's Marcelo Trobbiani. Both played only two minutes. Marcelo Trobbiani appearance was in the final two minutes of his country's 3-2 final win over West Germany in 1986.

World Cup fastest substitution
The fastest substitution in World Cup history came in 1998, when Italy's Alessandro Nesta was replaced by Giuseppe Bergomi in the match against Austria after only 4 minutes. This record was equalled when the young Michael Owen was replaced by the tall Peter Crouch against Sweden in the 2006 World Cup.

World Cup Appearance Records by Country 1930-2006

Rank

Country

No. of Finals

Games Played

Won

Tied

Lost

Goals for

Goals Ag.

Goal Diff.

Points (3/win)

1

Brazil

18

92

64

14

14

201

84

+117

206

2

Germany1

16

92

55

19

18

190

112

+78

184

3

Italy

16

77

44

19

14

122

69

+53

151

4

Argentina

14

65

33

13

19

113

74

+39

112

5

England

12

55

25

17

13

74

47

+27

92

6

France

12

51

25

10

16

95

64

+31

85

7

Spain

12

49

22

12

15

80

57

+23

78

8

Sweden

11

46

16

13

17

74

69

+ 5

61

9

Netherlands

8

36

16

10

10

59

38

+21

58

10

Russia

9

37

17

6

14

64

44

+20

57

11

Serbia & Monte

10

40

16

8

16

62

56

+ 6

56

12

Uruguay

10

40

15

10

15

65

57

+ 8

55

13

Poland

7

31

15

5

11

44

40

+ 4

50

14

Hungary

9

32

15

3

14

87

57

+30

48

15

Mexico

13

45

11

12

22

48

84

-36

45

16

Czech Rep

9

33

12

5

16

47

49

- 2

41

17

Austria

7

29

12

4

13

43

47

- 4

40

18

Belgium

11

36

10

9

17

46

63

-17

39

19

Portugal

4

19

11

1

7

32

21

+11

34

20

Romania

7

21

8

5

8

30

32

- 2

29

21

Switzerland

8

26

8

5

13

37

51

-14

29

22

Chile

7

25

7

6

12

31

40

- 9

27

23

Paraguay

7

22

6

7

9

27

36

- 9

25

24

Denmark

3

13

7

2

4

24

18

+ 6

23

25

USA

8

25

6

3

16

27

51

-24

21

26

Croatia

3

13

6

2

5

15

11

+ 4

20

27

Cameroon

5

17

4

7

6

15

29

-14

19

28

Scotland

8

23

4

7

12

25

41

-16

19

29

South Korea

7

24

4

7

13

22

53

-31

19

30

Bulgaria

7

26

3

8

15

22

53

-31

17

31

Turkey

2

10

5

1

4

20

17

+ 3

16

32

Peru

4

15

4

3

8

19

31

-12

15

33

Rep. of Ireland

3

13

2

8

3

10

10

0

14

34

N. Ireland

3

13

3

5

5

13

23

-10

14

35

Nigeria

3

11

4

1

6

14

16

- 2

13

36

Colombia

4

13

3

2

8

14

23

- 9

11

37

Morocco

4

13

2

4

7

12

18

- 6

10

38

Costa Rica

3

10

3

1

6

12

21

- 9

10

39

Norway

3

8

2

3

3

7

8

- 1

9

40

Ecuador

2

7

3

0

4

7

8

- 1

9

41

Senegal

1

5

2

2

1

7

6

+ 1

8

42

East Germany

1

6

2

2

2

5

5

0

8

43

Japan

3

10

2

2

6

8

14

- 6

8

44

Saudi Arabia

4

13

2

2

9

9

32

-23

8

45

Ukraine

1

5

2

1

2

5

7

- 2

7

46

Algeria

2

6

2

1

3

6

10

- 4

7

47

Tunisia

4

12

1

4

7

8

17

- 9

7

48

Wales

1

5

1

3

1

4

4

0

6

49

Ghana

1

4

2

0

2

4

6

- 2

6

50

South Africa

2

6

1

3

2

8

11

- 3

6

51

Australia

2

7

1

2

4

5

11

- 6

5

52

Iran

3

9

1

2

6

6

18

-12

5

53

North Korea

1

4

1

1

2

5

9

- 4

4

54

Cuba

1

3

1

1

1

5

12

- 7

4

55

Ivory Coast

1

3

1

0

2

5

6

- 1

3

56

Jamaica

1

3

1

0

2

3

9

- 6

3

57

Honduras

1

3

0

2

1

2

3

- 1

2

58

Angola

1

3

0

2

1

1

2

- 1

2

59

Israel

1

3

0

2

1

1

3

- 2

2

60

Egypt

2

4

0

2

2

3

6

- 3

2

61

Kuwait

1

3

0

1

2

2

6

- 4

1

62

Trinidad & Tobago

1

3

0

1

2

0

4

- 4

1

63

Bolivia

3

6

0

1

5

1

20

-19

1

64

Iraq

1

3

0

0

3

1

4

- 3

0

65

Slovenia

1

3

0

0

3

2

7

- 5

0

66

Togo

1

3

0

0

3

1

6

- 5

0

67

Canada

1

3

0

0

3

0

5

- 5

0

68

Dutch East Indies

1

1

0

0

1

0

6

- 6

0

69

United Arab Emirates

1

3

0

0

3

2

11

- 9

0

70

China

1

3

0

0

3

0

9

- 9

0

71

New Zealand

1

3

0

0

3

2

12

-10

0

72

Greece

1

3

0

0

3

0

10

-10

0

73

Haiti

1

3

0

0

3

2

14

-12

0

74

Zaire

1

3

0

0

3

0

14

-14

0

75

El Salvador

2

6

0

0

6

1

22

-21

0

Total

361

1,416

551

314

551

2,063

2,063

0

1,967

World Cup Penalty Shootouts

Sergio Goycoechea of Argentina has saved the most penalties in total. He saved three against Yugoslavia in the quarterfinal in 1990 and two more in the semifinal against Italy, making his total to five. Claudio Taffarel of Brazil has also saved five, but two of them went over the crossbar, both in the final of 1994. He saved two more against the Netherlands in the semifinal in 1998.

World Cup Hall of Shame

Poland's Ernst Willimowski was the only player to score four goals in one single match and still ended up in the losing team. His disapointment was against Brazil in 1938.

The first own-goal in the history of the World Cup was scored by Switzerlands Ernst Lötscher against neighbouring rivals Germany in a replay first round game in 1938.

Ernie Brandts holds the record for the only player to have scored a goal, and an own-goal in the same match. The Dutch players humiliation was against Italy in 1978. Luckily Holland strived to win the match 2-1.